Sand Cay or Son Ca Island

May 31, 2010 — biendongnama

Sand Cay or Son Ca Island (Tagalog: Bailan; Chinese: 敦谦沙洲; pinyin: Dunqian Shazhou;Vietnamese: Đảo Sơn Ca) is an island in the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea. With an area of 7 hectares, it is the ninth largest Spratly island and the fourth largest among Vietnamese-occupied Spratly islands. It lies 6 miles (10 km) to the east of Taiwan-occupied Itu Aba Island. Between Sandy Cay and Itu Aba Island is another Taiwanese-occupied feature, Ban Than Reef. It is covered with trees and bushes. Fringing reef is partly above water at low tide. This feature is commonly confused with Sandy Cay, a sandy shoal near Thitu Island. This island, occupied by Vietnam since 1974, is also being claimed by China, Taiwan and the Philippines. It is part of Tizard Banks.